Our co-pending patent application filed Dec. 7, 1981, U.S. Ser. No. 327,882, for a "Building Panel Construction", discloses an economical, yet high quality, insulated, interlocking load-bearing building panel construction requiring minimal effort in order to construct a building. The present invention is an improvement in the general concept of our earlier invention in that it provides an even more economically manufactured self-insulated, load-bearing panel assembly which interlocks with panel assemblies of like construction in the building of a structure. While the panel construction of our earlier invention was relatively simple in its design and arrangement, the present invention advances the art further without forfeiting the strength and insulating features so desirable in any panel assembly used to construct a building.
The present invention surpasses known prior art prefabricated building components in strength as well as being aesthetically pleasing. The panel assembly of the present invention is relatively light weight, despite its load-bearing capacity, thus allowing the assembly to be easily handled by two people without necessitating the assistance of additional mechanical equipment in most instances. A building composed of the panel assemblies of the present invention yields a structure which is virtually completely insulated in that each panel assembly functions independently to prevent differentials in thermal energy from being transferred across it or between adjacent panel assemblies. With rising energy costs, this is a critical factor of increasing significance to today's homebuilder.
Yet despite all its advantageous features, the present invention is amazingly economical in that its manufacturing demands are minimal in contrast to prior art panels. Reduced manufacturing requirements, structural integrity, thermal insulation and a design which allows unskilled people to erect the structure, are the advantages the present invention brings to a market regrettably lacking in viable prefabricated-type building components. It is believed the present invention advances the state of the art for building, and for homebuilding in particular, in an unobvious manner with a design of simplicity and strength which simultaneously provides a thermally insulated structure.